Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Grows Stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 15.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 140,054 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 18,286 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned 0.06% of PPG Industries worth $16,729,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. PUREfi Wealth LLC purchased a new position in PPG Industries during the 4th quarter valued at $279,000. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of PPG Industries during the fourth quarter valued at about $868,000. JGP Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in PPG Industries in the fourth quarter worth about $4,050,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in PPG Industries by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,369,691 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,508,210,000 after buying an additional 756,937 shares during the period. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new position in shares of PPG Industries in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,944,000. Institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

PPG Industries Price Performance

PPG opened at $108.83 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 52-week low of $105.64 and a 52-week high of $143.98.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.04). PPG Industries had a net margin of 6.41% and a return on equity of 23.78%. As a group, analysts predict that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is currently 57.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on PPG. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $128.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp cut PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on PPG Industries from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on PPG Industries from $128.00 to $120.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $138.15.

Insider Activity at PPG Industries

In other PPG Industries news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total transaction of $568,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,833 shares in the company, valued at $4,240,835.55. The trade was a 11.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

PPG Industries Company Profile

PPG Industries, Inc manufactures and distributes paints, coatings, and specialty materials in the United States, Canada, the Asia Pacific, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. It operates through two segments, Performance Coatings and Industrial Coatings. The Performance Coatings segment offers coatings, solvents, adhesives, sealants, sundries, and software for automotive and commercial transport/fleet repair and refurbishing, light industrial coatings, and specialty coatings for signs; wood stains; paints, thermoplastics, pavement marking products, and other advanced technologies for pavement marking for government, commercial infrastructure, painting, and maintenance contractors; and coatings, sealants, transparencies, transparent armor, adhesives, engineered materials, and packaging and chemical management services for commercial, military, regional jet, and general aviation aircraft.